


Shall We Dance?

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: Inktober for Writers 2017 [29]
Category: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)
Genre: M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 07:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12552408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: Finding themselves at yet another embassy ball, Napoleon and Illya steal a chance to dance the night away together.





	Shall We Dance?

**Author's Note:**

> For Prompt 29 of Inktober for Writers: Invitation

Napoleon delicately sipped a glass of champagne as he stood by the door of the ballroom at the embassy. It was a rare occasion where he and Illya were invited to a grand ball not as a protection detail, but as guests.

“I know why you are here,” Illya said. “But why am _I_ here?”

“I guess because you knew, deep down, that I would enjoy the ball more if you were here with me.”

“Perhaps, but are you enjoying yourself?” Illya asked. “You have been eating and conversing with the other guests, but you haven’t danced at all.”

“Neither have you.”

“I do not dance,” Illya said, flatly.

“Well, maybe it’s because you don’t have anyone you want to dance with,” Napoleon said.

“Oh, but I do,” Illya said. “I think there is just one person you wish to dance with, as well—that is why you turned down everyone else, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Napoleon said, with a wan smile. “…Would you like to dance?”

Illya gave him a baffled look.

“What? Here?”

“Yeah, why not here?” Napoleon said. “Well, maybe not here in this room with all of these people…” He took a peek out the door into the corridor, and smiled to see that it was empty.

Illya’s eyes widened, suddenly realizing what he was planning.

“Napoleon…”

His partner extended a hand to him, indicating the corridor.

“May I have this dance?”

Illya let out an amused sigh.

“You may have all of them, _Dorogoy_ ,” he said, taking Napoleon’s hand and following him to the corridor.

And, together, they danced right there in the corridor, dancing to the same, sweeping music that everyone else was while still managing to be in their own private world with no one else to disturb them.

“Illya, you dance divinely,” Napoleon marveled. “Are you sure you’ve never danced before?”

“I am sure. Perhaps it is my partner who carries me.”

“Uh-uh. I was beginning to think that you were the one carrying _me_.”

“Perhaps it is both,” Illya suggested.

“Both of us carrying each other?” Napoleon asked.

“Why not?” Illya countered. “That is how we live our lives and how we work together. Why should this be any different?”

Napoleon grinned.

“I love the way you think, Tovarisch,” he said. “And I agree.”

They continued to dance the night away, and Illya found the experience surprisingly exhilarating. As the night drew to a close, they slipped back into the ballroom; Napoleon was almost immediately bombarded by people asking where he’d disappeared to, and Napoleon responded with a playful shrug.

Illya ignored the others, just focusing on how enjoyable the evening had been.

Perhaps he’d accept these kinds of invitations more often…


End file.
